Pictured above: Opening Ceremonies on Saturday morning started off with Constable Scott Sherman and Constable Brett Crowley leading the teams into the gym. Click any picture for a larger version.

The tournament took place on Friday, January 13th and Saturday, January 14, 2017.

The Blue Devils in town on Friday the 13th was the forecasted outcome for our Tiger Fire with the Devils taking the game 11-7. It was a high energy game with lots of good passing by Winnipeg and a few good breakaways on both sides. The Blue Devils outshot our Tiger Fire 65 to 32 but Jarret Gingras stood tall between the pipes and won the Home Hardware Player of the Game Award for Tiger Fire. Blue Devils Home Hardware Player of the Game was #1 Alex Garrett.
Scoring goals for Tiger Fire were #4 Brennan Sauder with 4 goals and 1 goal each for #44 Kolton Leslie, #17 Ron Legall and #12 Jeremy Stephen + 1 assist.

The first game of the day on Saturday was between the Wheat City Wings and the Riding Mountain Rebels. This is the first year the Riding Mountain Rebels have been in play and this was their first tournament. They received a little help from a couple of the Blue Devil players. The final score was 11-3 for the Wheat City Wings. The scores did not reflect how well the Riding Mountain Rebels played today as a new team. Home Hardware Players of the Game were #7 Cara DeGraaf Riding Mountain Rebels and #27 Blaine Smithson goalie for the Wheat City Wings.

Pictured above: Riding Mountain Rebels first competition.

Game 2 of the day-Tiger Fire VS Brandon Wheat City Wings. The Tigers had lost their game the night before and knew they had to pour on the heat if they wanted to place above 3rd. Lots of play was on the Brandon side and the Tigers emerged victorious with a final score of 7-2. Tiger Fire # 24 Joe Cook took the puck up the right side and scored the first goal within the first 2 minutes. #4 Brennan Sauder took the puck from one end to the other to score goal #2. #24 Joe Cook’s 2nd goal of the first period was a nail biter as the goalie fumbled the puck and it fell in.

# 4 Brennan Sauder scored a total of 4 goals with one assist by Jeremy Stephen and #24 Joe Cook had a hat trick. Home Hardware Players of the Game were #19 Brett Miller for Tiger Fire and #44 Richard Marks for Brandon. Pictured left: Brennan Sauder was a blur as he crossed the court and scored.

Pictured above: Home Hardware Players of Game#2: #19 Brett Miller (Portage athlete with Tiger Fire) and #44 Richard Marks Wheat City Wings. Home Hardware Player of Game#3: #1 Richard Ricketts goalie for the Riding Mountain Rebels and #16 Andrew Singer for the Devils.

#5 Kelsey Catcheway scored for the Riding Mountain Rebels and received the Home Hardware Player of the Game Award along with #7 John Schabert for Tiger Fire.Pictured left: Tiger Fire John Schabert maneuvered the puck around the wall of Riding Mountain defence to score.

The final game of the day-Blue Devils VS Wheat City Wings with the Devils winning 8-0. It was a great game, although the Wheat Wings suffered 2 casualties. Scoring for the Blue Devils: #4 Robert Glowa 3 goals, #7 EJ Ilag 2 goals, #21 Curtis Tymko 2 goals, #00 Adam Lloyd 1 goal + 1 assist. Wheat City Wings coach Tracy Williams commented, “They have fabulous players on the Winnipeg team and we will strive to be like them next year.”
Taking home 1st place red ribbons-Winnipeg Blue Devils, 2nd place blue ribbons-Swan Valley Tiger Fire, 3rd place white ribbons-Brandon Wheat City Wings and 4th place yellow ribbons-Riding Mountain Rebels.

Pictured above: 1st Place winners Winnipeg Blue Devils.

The Tiger Fire team will be training hard as all four teams will compete against each other once again in the Winnipeg Winter Games on February 25th.
The Tiger Fire Floor Hockey Team and Special Olympics Manitoba Parkland Region wish to thank the following for making our 3rd Regional Floor Hockey Tournament a success!